Useful Links & a Weblog

Useful Links	Bridging the Gap is an environmental awareness and educational organization located in Kansas City, Missouri. Need help seeing through the corporate/political/administration fog presented as news and advocacy? Here are a couple sources that quickly pop the balloon of PR hot air and show that, indeed, the emperor's new clothes are the same old clothes, and they need changing. PRWatch and FAIR. Optima Computers has been a lifesaver more than once. Nader is probably "too nice" to his customers, but that's why they'll drive 100 miles without hesitation. In other words, he knows you can buy hardware anywhere, but his service is incredible. Now, if I can talk him into letting me upgrade and maintain his site... Kansas City Artists Coalition is one of the first places KC metro artists go when they need help with almost anything for career development. Once on this site, you'll find links to many more organizations and KCAC artist members. Inkjetart is a great source of technical information about large format inkjet printing as well as a supplier. If you ever want to do research, this is a great place to start even if you never buy. Outbackphoto provides so many different types of information it's hard to catagorize. Let's just say that if you're already into or are wondering if you should jump into digital photography, these guys walk the walk. Me? I talk the talk because I'm still film-based 35mm and plan to stay that way for the time being. International Herald Tribune publishes news that media in the United States seldom do, even though much of its material also comes from the New York Times. The real IHT staff adds a point of view located outside our borders that appears to be both well-thought-out and accurate. Wired has been around long enough to lose some of its edge, but I still read it cover-to-cover each month as well as visit the site daily for an "okay, most of its prognostications are b***s*** but it's fun to read anyway" fix. Where else are you gonna find out how our government is giving away our limited techno resources to vested interests? That's if you care.
Weblog (Really a combination diary and commentary) Jan-Mar 2004 Archive Nov-Dec 2003 Archive July-Oct 2003 Archive	* Begins with the newest post first and works its way back in time. Done manually, so don't get too excited if it doesn't look like the usual formats you may have seen on weblog sites. At some point, I'll probably add real blog software. April 18, 2005- Like sausage, watching law being made can be disturbing We have moments in our lives when the knowledge of how something actually works causes cognitive dissonance with our idealized imaginings. A phone call triggered by a former life only served to underline this truth. I spent my first career in the newspaper world. At the lower end of the spectrum: community papers where the journalistic goal is often little more than boosterism. I engaged in a certain amount of that, but I also often acted as a conscience, pointing out the sometimes ridiculous special favors the local politicos would deal each other. At my last publication, I made sure we had a reporter attending the county government meetings because that was an area largely neglected by other news outlets. Over the years, the reporters witnessed many instances where discretion was a better course, if only to preserve access. Not that anything was covered up, but at least these lapses weren’t always the lead of that week’s coverage. At the end of my career in the news biz, there was a nasty bit of business developing in one of the two counties we covered. Long known as a "fiefdom," the Wabaunsee County commissioners and a department head or two had stepped over the line at a time when there was someone willing to speak up. I had forgotten that nascent development until the phone call. I was amazed to learn the events following that individual’s often strident chronicles had led to a decision by the United States Supreme Court in his favor. Of course, neither I nor the publication I used to manage can take credit for this individual’s iron-willed drive, with the support of his family, to do the right thing. We may have enabled the effort, but I have the feeling even if we hadn’t acted as an outlet, he would have prevailed. After all, it was an open and shut case, in my opinion. This is where the sausage comment comes into play. I googled "Keen Umbehr," the protagonist of this saga. You’ll find two links later that will illustrate my point. However, the short story is Keen was Waubansee’s exclusive refuse hauler, as a contractor to the county. In the course of his business and private life he learned that county equipment was being loaned to private individuals for their use, among other things, and being the vocal and literate individual he is, he took every opportunity to comment on this activity and other county government issues that concerned him. Two of the commissioners were incensed enough with this criticism they canceled his contract. The case became a First Amendment issue and was ultimately resolved in Keen’s favor. Non-government employees and contractors don’t enjoy that same constitutional protection, but there is always hope. I read the court’s decision, complete with its dissent by Scalia and Thomas. I also read the transcript of the arguments before the court. Although I don’t have all of the context necessary to know whether this is typical of cases argued before our highest court, my suspicion is we would all be aghast if the reality even begins to approach what you’ll read. And you’ll understand why it’s important that the Bush regime, or any that follows, not be given free ride in appointing the court’s members. Scalia, we know, is unabashedly bought by the corporate hegemony and his passionate tirade against the majority is all the proof you’ll need that his opinion is purchased, not reasoned. Thomas was compromised before he ever took his seat as a porn-loving, sexual harasser. If you don’t think he’s still paying off the tab for those indiscretions, you’re a fool. Many of the other justices seemed to have not even heard of the issues in the case before the arguments, while others must have actually read the materials. Many sound as though staying connected with the proceedings around them is futile. All in all, it frightens me like little else that this body is all we have between us and a totally out-of-control corporate regime. You and I may not be as tenacious as Keen Umbehr, but it is imperative that we participate in taking back our country from those who game or outright abuse the system. Even if it’s only to write a letter, make a phone call or attend a rally. Do it, we won’t get many more chances to actually make a difference. gnf Nebraska Hwy 2 heading to Lincoln August 12, 2004- Life through the rearview mirror One of the pleasures of taking my art on the road is the chance to enjoy wide open spaces. Growing up in Western Kansas, I learned to appreciate the vastness of a horizon not hemmed in by trees lining the road. Add a storm front with anvil and thunderhead clouds and you have something majestic to contemplate. I won’t make a parochial mistake and claim nothing beats those Midwestern sights. I’ll save such foolishness for other times. Artists are not uniquely reflective individuals, I believe we all review and replay personal vignettes throughout our lives. Some are adept at quietly putting those old tapes away and moving on. I wish I was one of them. I’m one who will always be haunted by personal ghosts, unable to hug them close enough until they finally concede and fade away, yet unwilling to let them go and find another home. Approximately two years ago, I was sitting on board a flight from Toronto to Manchester, UK. Before setting out on the trip, I purchased a small black notebook to keep important information handy, on-the-fly note taking and perhaps some journal writing if I could trick myself into relaxing enough to let go. As the plane rotated and lifted off, I began a personal analysis about whether I could or would be able to make it as an artist. Employed at the time, I knew I was seriously unhappy and would need a change before I became self-destructive. Before I put the notebook away to catch some sleep in preparation for jet lag upon arrival, I had outlined three areas I would need to address in order to reach success- as I defined it. The possibility I would be journeying on the art fair circuit was not addressed by any of the three areas. Not directly, anyway. Good sales or not, the fairs have been one of the best surprises on my journey. Each time I learn that my personal vision is captivating to a large number of people. (I joke with the other artists that if everyone who loves my work had disposable income I’d already be wealthy. And then wonder if they’ve had the same experience.) So what’s the point to this entry? I know that I sometimes need to whistle as I walk past the cemetery, so maybe this is to convince myself that I’m not ‘afraid’ and am well on the way to my destination. Maybe it’s to share with others who may read this that I am uncertain about many things in life and feel vulnerable, just as they might. Or maybe I just want to take another look in the rearview mirror to see where I’ve been, or what may be overtaking me as I dreamily contemplate the clouds on the horizon. April 17, 2004- Loyalty on a continuum Loyalty is good. Blind loyalty creates victims. Loyalty to save face serves neither party well. In an earlier posting, I discussed how the Social Contract has been largely made meaningless by those in positions of religious, political and corporate power. Rather than seek the good of the whole, our leaders focus almost exclusively on protecting and building their own power. Paraphrasing Rousseau, our leaders have failed to let … the voice of duty take the place of physical impulses and right of appetite, so that man, who so far had considered only himself, finds that he is forced to act on different principles, and to consult his reason before listening to his inclinations. The incredible rationalization the Bush regime uses to justify its corruption of constitutional rights and ignore international law is easily explained by the basic avarice the regime exhibits. There is no consideration except how its actions will benefit its membership. Combine this loyalty to self with an ignorant, distracted or disinterested public and you have the elements necessary for fascism to flourish. Is loyalty, then, something to be avoided? Loyalty to a creed or philosophy that puts reasoned principle ahead of personal gain must surely be good. I am not a member of a faith community and likely will not find the need for such. But that does not mean I cannot be or am not a moral person. Morality is a state available to anyone who is willing to abide by the social contract. It does not require ascribing to demagoguery of faith, politics or social movement. It is an entirely individual capacity that, when all members of society practice such morality, allows true democracy to exist. How could one wish to avoid such loyalty? Blind or unquestioned loyalty is used by those in power to coerce action from those who seek favor. We have seen throughout history what happens when a "leader" is successful at representing his or her vision as the true path to enlightenment. Be it spiritual, social or commerce, these paths have but one objective: maintaining that leader’s position as the one to whom all must pledge their unquestioning loyalty. In the case of religious loyalty, we see casualties daily in the Mideast, and regardless of the fine shading one may choose to place on the situation, it boils down to misplaced loyalty to historical creed that has little more merit than as a means to maintain control over a population. The geopolitical "loyalties" our nations negotiate with one another simply formalize a "blind eye loyalty" to each other’s internal abuses and self-interested leadership. The victims are at times quite visible — casualties of war, execution squads, tribal genocide. And sometimes less visible — like a growing number of children forced to live in poverty or without medical care while leadership grows richer and more entrenched from self-dealing. We often find ourselves confronted with a decision regarding loyalty. "America- Love It or Leave It" bumper stickers are again in vogue. Workers and professionals must accept increasingly difficult conditions or risk finding themselves without means of support. Religious faithful are told they must discard their own reasoned principles or be denied the fellowship that is supposed to be all-encompassing and freely given. The media, even in its deeply compromised state, reports almost daily of the scorn, harassment and outright criminal behavior directed against individuals in government who place loyalty to the whole above loyalty to the regime. With such a breakdown in the social contract, one might decide the best course is to salute the flag — whatever flag — flying that day. Survival is the motivation, but does loyalty to save face ultimately ensure survival? Given this is a prime contributor to our present situation, what do you think? In other words, "America- Show You Love It and Take a Stand." gnf
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